Prague square
| Prague square | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 Prager Platz, view to the north-northwest |
|
| Basic data | |
| place | Berlin |
| District | Wilmersdorf |
| Created | 1870 |
| Confluent streets |
Prager Strasse, Trautenaustrasse, Motzstrasse , Prinzregentenstrasse, Aschaffenburger Strasse |
| use | |
| User groups | Pedestrians , cyclists , road traffic |
The Prager Platz is located in Berlin district of Wilmersdorf on the borders of Bavarian quarter in the district of Schöneberg . The Pragerstrasse, Trautenaustrasse, Prinzregentenstrasse, Aschaffenburger and Motzstrasse flow into it . With a green area and a fountain on the central island, a small pedestrian zone and a shopping arcade, it is a recreational and leisure area for the surrounding residential areas.
history
The square was built in 1870 by Johann Anton Wilhelm von Carstenn as a southeastern representative and decorative square in the " Carstenn figure " he designed, an urban ensemble that includes Nikolsburger , Fasanen and Nürnberger Platz . From 1878 it was called Halberstädter Platz , in 1888 it was given its current name. The name is reminiscent of the Peace of Prague on August 23, 1866, which ended the German war between Prussia and Austria . Because of its name, it was always associated with its mirror-image counterpart , Nikolsburger Platz (previously Magdeburger Platz) : The Peace of 1866 was called the “Peace Treaty of Prague and Nikolsburg ” (chronological order not entirely consistent) and linked the two episcopal seats of Halberstadt and Magdeburg a centuries-long history of the Hohenzollerns and Protestantism . Overall, the names of the squares are related to the content of the nearby Hohenzollerndamm as well as to the former Kaiserallee .
In 1904 the square was given a green area based on plans by Richard Thieme and in 1907 residential buildings in the style of the late Wilhelminian era .
Second World War and rebuilding
During the Second World War , the peripheral buildings were almost completely destroyed by bombing and fire. For several decades it formed a crossroad that was surrounded by wasteland . In 1986 the square was redesigned based on the historical structure. The central island was provided with a lawn, borders, wooden benches and hedges, in the center a fountain was built in a flat granite bowl . In 1987, as part of the International Building Exhibition (IBA), head structures were rebuilt at the road junctions. In 2002 the last vacant lot was closed by a shopping center with 17 commercial units, a hotel and a fitness center . In October 2007 a 3.3 meter high granite sculpture was erected on the edge of the square in memory of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke . The work of the sculptor Miroslav Vochta is a gift from the city of Prague .
Prager Platz has been a cultural center of western Berlin since the beginning of the 20th century . Artists and intellectuals such as Albert Einstein and Egon Erwin Kisch lived in the surrounding streets . Erich Kästner lived only twenty meters from the square and in 1928 mentioned the look at him in the prologue to his children's book Emil and the Detectives . The Prager Diele on the corner of Trautenaustrasse was a meeting place in the early 1920s for Russian intellectuals who lived in Berlin as emigrants or “ revolutionary tourists ”. Among them were the writers Vladimir Nabokov , Ilja Ehrenburg , Boris Pasternak and Maxim Gorki . Immediately after the Second World War , the architect Paul Schwebes set up his office on Prager Platz. In the 1990s Hildegard Knef lived just a few steps away from there.
literature
- Josef Paul Kleihues : The new building areas / International Building Exhibition Berlin 1984/87 . Vol. 6: Prager Platz . Verlag Gerd Hatje, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-7757-0255-5 .
- Fred Oberhauser, Nicole Henneberg: Literary Guide Berlin . With numerous illustrations, maps and registers. Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt a. M, Leipzig 1998, ISBN 3-458-33877-2 .
- Thomas Urban: Russian writers in Berlin in the twenties . Nicolaische Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3894790970 .
Web links
-
Prague square. In: Street name lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein (near Kaupert )
- Halberstädter Platz . In: Luise.
- Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district at berlin.de:
- Prague Square in the Lexicon
- Kästner's Emil was astonished - town hall news (issue 6)
Coordinates: 52 ° 29 ′ 35.5 ″ N , 13 ° 19 ′ 59 ″ E